Question: One snake caught $12$ mice. Another snake caught $5$ fewer mice than the first. How many mice did the second snake catch?
Solution: To find the number of mice the ${\text{Second snake}}$ caught, we start with the number of mice the ${\text{First Snake}}$ caught and subtract ${5}$. $12$ $?$ $5$ First snake Second snake 5 mice ${12} - {5} = {\Box}$ Let's subtract to find how many mice the ${\text{Second snake}}$ caught. $$ $$ ${-}$ $$ ${=}$ $$ $$ ${12} - {5} = {7}$ The second snake caught ${7}$ mice.